Let’s set the record straight, I was not on holiday.

Just because I took a break from the blog doesn't mean I was taking it easy. No beach side point break for me. Directors don’t do holidays. Holidays are for teachers, government officials and the big man in the red jacket: what a gig, one day a year and the rest, an endless summer… yo ho ho baby!

But as they say, a change is as good as a rest.

I've left Moon and have a lovely new home at Annex and and I’ve just got back from New York shooting for Shots brand of the year Samsung. But more of that in the months to come. First…

It’s back to Santa’s homeland, Turkey. Yes, you heard me right, St Nick came from the South and has his own Christmas Island, or was that Dean Martin. Returning to Istanbul for a second OMO campaign, thanks to my friend at Lowe and Atlantik Film (great company if anyone wants to shoot in this part of the World), I’m interested to see City life now the summer’s infamous scenes in Gezi park have Twittered away.

Istanbul was unrecognisable. No more tear gas, no more water cannons and no more fasting - last time Ramadan was testing people’s spirituality and Taxi drivers were failing miserably. If you’ve never seen the City's infamous gridlock on an empty stomach think Grand Theft auto, for real.

But it seems most people in this incredible City have nerves of steel. OMO scripts call for dirt. In OMO land, dirt is good. Leaking pens, filthy playgrounds and exploding food are often the order of the day. On my last shoot the man in charge of pyro-burgers was known as “The Doctor” and he was very very professional. You have to respect a fasting man sitting in front of fifty hamburger for twelve hours a day, with only the will of God to keep him going. That's service. Allahu Akbar!

Despite the tricky nature of shooting with children, stain management, and empty stomachs the result was charming - see below.

But that was then and this is now, I'm back at the same school in Istanbul on OMO part 2 faced with two twins who are expected to deliver Emmy award winning performances. Direction done I shout "action" and hold my breath. One little girl looks at the camera and says, "I need toilet". Looks like it's going to be a long day...

But Turkish crews are used to the hours. That could all change in the New Year when they sign a deal with local production companies limiting the working day. Personally I think it’s the way ahead. Anything that manages expectations in an achievable way has to be a good thing.

So in the spirit of change, as the year draws to a close, please check out Annex and Gusto's new table top connection with Grinder in Cape Town – can’t be a bad call shooting in Cape town as the winter freeze sets in.

To one and all I’d like to thank you for making 2013 so enjoyable and wish you a Happy Holidays! Or should I say…. do something new this Season, it’s good for the soul.

Beware… advertising is a virus. There’s a self-replicating gene, called a “meme”, spreading social media at an alarming rate. But don’t be afraid, it’s only Richard Dawkins opening this year’s 2013 International Festival of Creativity.

Welcome to Cannes, baby! By the time you read this your rose haze will hopefully have faded along with the azure blue skies of the Cotes D’Azure. But what was this year’s festival really like? Was it worthy of the 60th year?

There were definitely some interesting winners. 
Great to see branded content coming of age: chocolate created a successful love story, a man woke up everyday with a new face and some obvious less engaging Lions 
Just shows what can be achieved across platforms if characters and stories engage. For film we should raise a glass to the “dude”, who thought budgie smugglers would breathe fresh life into alcohol advertising. Proves what great casting can achieve. Also nice to see food getting a look in with Lurpak. I’d love to see a whole TV series about the mysterious “cook” and her buttery powers, wouldn’t that be great?

Onstage Mother were teaching everyone “how not to be a douche”, and there were the usual celebs as well as some unusual ones.

But what about life outside the Palais? I arrived at 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon and the Sandpit was full, the Carlton Terrace was heaving, and the beach restaurants buzzed with production companies from around the world. Unlike the atmosphere a few years ago the feeling was upbeat, positive and resourceful. As the old sign in the Las Vegas Casino reads, “you have to be present to win”. But win what, exactly?

What links lectures, delegates, and Golden Lions with the heady goings-on of the fringe? Why isn’t there a place, like the Film Festival’s official bar, where delegates and non-delegates can mix without getting ripped off? Google try (but you’ve got to be a delegate), the Carlton make a living out of it (you’ve got to be a millionaire) and others miss the mark with elaborately themed parties.

The only people who really impressed were the APA – top work Steve. They were trying, with events such as the producer's lunch, to start a more meaningful conversation that could actually go somewhere rather than into The Gutter. Seems to me that this is definitely the way ahead. A way for your week in the Sun to have more effect that a lasting hangover. Maybe clients could sponsor a few events and then we’d really have a focus for the fringe? Failing that I’ll settle for a goodie bag. Too cheap? Sorry.

Or maybe I’ve got it all wrong. If advertising is spreading like a virus maybe the really juicy stuff at this year’s festival of creativity happened online, tweeted to the world. Personally I’d prefer a bit of eye to eye and a good old glass of the pink stuff. Seems that the 15,000 other people agree.

But that, as they say, is already history. I’m packing my gas mask and heading off to Istanbul to shoot a very nice film for my friends at Atlantik. See you next month with stories from the City that never sleeps and the man who has brought new meaning to the "word" silence. Onwards to enlightenment. Insha'Allah

The sun sets. The atmosphere is tense. Twenty minutes to wrap, and we’re missing a shot…

We need backlight. We need to elevate one of the world’s top models to the height of the sun’s dying rays. Before I can shout “apple box!” Mr Handsome’s climbed a wall, straddled a railing, and is ready to go. Now all I need to do is make his performance look natural and ignore the twelve foot pole between his legs.

Google “acting for commercials” and you’ll be amazed to discover your search yields little of any use. “Have a good time” one casting director advises. Hello… you can have a good time when we’ve finished, this is an audition. Maybe that’s why some commercial performances are more lights on, but no one’s home.

Directing commercial acting isn’t cinema, it isn’t TV, it’s a different game. You can’t discuss character motivation when there’s ten turning points in less than twenty five seconds; or backstory when the client insists their chocolate bar should be chewed only twice before the swallow. What you need is trust, commercial understanding, and a tenacious ability to get what you want.

But to do that, you have to attend the casting, which a lot of directors don’t. Secondly you need a good casting director, which is sometimes harder than being The Hand of the King – your followers constantly give you a hard time, change their minds, are never happy, and in the end it’s all your fault and you’re beheaded. Hats, or should I says heads off to Janis Jaffa who casts my work and our latest offering: if you don’t like it, its all her fault.

In truth directing actors is often about trust. Ricardo climbed a railing because he knew I wasn't about to make him look stupid. After trust comes technique. Finding a way to go faster, or speeding everything else up to make the performance feel slower. But before you can do anything with timing you have to understand character, and before you can understand character you have to have some idea of real life and the people who inhabit it. Maybe that’s why “the London look” never seems to come out as a natural expression of everyday life. Personally I think it would be more effective performed by the latest stars of Spring Break, but I guess that’s more Kings road circa 1976.

Back at sunset I couldn’t believe the day had gone so well.

Three weeks before, having made two successful films for Alpen, we discovered one of the main actresses was pregnant. The client needed replacements: two new leading ladies, just as attractive as the previous two, same colour hair, same smiles, the works. Oh, and they have to be really good actors. I could feel the block on my neck and see the glint of the executioner’s blade before the ink on the casting brief was even dry.

As always, we pulled it off and I think the film is full of genuinely charming and engaging performances thanks to Ricardo Guedes, Perdita Weeks and Sara Vickers. Model agents and casting directors take note, these guys are great! But what do I know, I wanted to cast Catherine Zeta Jones and Ewan McGregor and no one would listen. Anyway, enough about me…

It's Cannes baby! Who will win, who will be the contenders, and can your body take a week of the good, the bad and the downright rose. Let’s see if any performances catch the limelight like Michael Douglas at this year’s Film Festival and I’ll see you on the Croissette. And…

Profile, profile, face the front and hands to camera.